Only One Way To Know
by ArtisteFish
Summary: It's been a year since her return to Inuyasha, and Kagome hasn't tried the well since. It may still be open, but... does she have the courage to find out for certain?
1. Chapter 1

~Only One Way to Know, a post-canon Inuyasha fanfic~

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Inuyasha felt his heart constrict as he found his wife right where he had expected: sitting on the edge of the well, staring into the darkness with a hand on her swollen belly.

He walked towards her as casually as he could, knowing she was aware of his presence and knowing she'd talk when she was ready. Taking a seat on the rim adjacent to her, he watched her carefully, seeing the conflict waging behind her eyes.

It was the same conflict she'd been facing for the past year of being back in this place, but now she was pregnant, and it had only gotten a hundred times worse.

"What if it still works?"

Her voice was quiet, and even though he knew she wanted him to hear her, he also knew she didn't need an answer. They'd talked about this many times already.

"But what if it doesn't?" she answered herself, her voice quivering.

Inuyasha reached out a clawed hand to gently clasp the hand that was turning white from gripping the wood beneath it too tightly. He could understand what she felt. There had been so many times in his early, lonely life where he'd wanted nothing more than his mother's comfort, for her calming words of wisdom and unconditional love. But _his_ mother had died, and there was absolutely no way for him to get his wish. But Kagome's mother… she wasn't really dead. Well… she technically wasn't even born.

"Kagome," he began gently, and even though she didn't look at him he knew she was listening "you can't keep torturing yourself like this. All this back and forth and what if… there's only one way to find out for sure!"

"But I can't!" she shouted, her eyes wide and watery but full of determined fire, "What if it doesn't work? I couldn't risk hurting the baby! And if I used a ladder or something… maybe it wouldn't have the same effect."

Inuyasha glanced at the baby bump on his wife – she was four months along and not showing very much, but it was enough; and every time he saw that swell, something in his heart swelled as well. Of course they could never risk hurting the baby, but… _what if_ ….

"What if it did work, Kagome? You have way better medicine in your time than here… our baby would be safer, healthier… isn't that worth trying for?"

She looked at him with hard eyes, and he nearly gulped. It wasn't really a look of anger… more one of a frustrated teacher with a trying student. "Inuyasha, what if it did work… and what if it stopped working again? We'd be trapped there, in a time where people don't know about demons, a time where you wouldn't be able to live a full life, a time where _our baby_ might not be able to live a full life… what if our baby has your ears? Would you want them to have to wear a hat the rest of their lives? Or _you_ for that matter?"

Inuyasha opened his mouth to protest, ready to point out that they faced just as much a problem in this era where half-demons were openly hated, but her next words made him freeze.

"And what if it sends you back again?"

Her voice was near breaking as she said this, and he scooted closer, ready to take her in his arms… to comfort the both of them.

But her angry voice made him pause as she continued "I'm not going to take that chance Inuyasha. I can't. I can't raise this child without you."

He knew better than to share that he thought it would be better if she did… he wanted this child more than anything, but he was less than even remotely confident in his ability to actually be a father.

Instead he chose a safer path of persuasion, saying briskly "But what about your mother? Can you raise a child without her around?"

Kagome cringed, her head dropping, and Inuyasha cringed himself as he picked up on the salt of her tears. "Of course I could… plenty of women do."

"Liar. You're not 'plenty of women."

She sniffled softly, moving the hand on her stomach to wipe at her eyes, before placing it back even more gently than before. "Okay, so I always thought… that she'd be around when I… when I was having my own children. When you have a mom like mine… you want her around for everything." She laughed softly, but the sound was weighed down with sorrow. It broke Inuyasha's heart to hear.

She looked up at him again, and her love was shining brightly through her tears as she said "But I wouldn't trade this life with you for anything. Even…."

She couldn't even finish the thought as she broke down into tears. Inuyasha couldn't handle much more of this. He could almost see that line in his head that separated him from his tendency towards rash behavior, and he was practically running for it.

He was quick to make it to her side and cradled her in his arms, his voice rough and loud as he fought to control his raging emotions, saying "You shouldn't have to live like this Kagome…. I won't let you live a half-life either!"

She gasped harshly as she was suddenly lifted into his arms, his grip firm but careful, and her heart leapt into her throat as she noticed he was now standing on the edge of the well, facing its depths.

"I'm sorry Kagome… but whatever the outcome, you _have_ to know!"

And before she could scream at him to stop, to let her down, he had jumped.

Her eyes screwed shut with fear and anger; not fear for herself or the baby, for she knew Inuyasha would keep her safe from impact when they hit the bottom, but she feared the unknown. She feared finally finding out for certain that the well was closed forever.

And most of all she feared opening her eyes and seeing Inuyasha disappear again.

She clung to him so hard that she didn't notice when they finally hit the bottom, until a cold nose bumped hers and she opened her eyes to see Inuyasha smiling down at her.

Kagome had never felt like smiling less.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? HOW COULD YOU! HOW **COULD** YOU! YOU **JERK**! I can't believe you would do something so UNBELIEVABLY –"

"Kagome!?"

Her breath caught with a hiss, her gaze not breaking from her husbands as she computed the voice echoing from the top of the well. She knew that voice like she knew her own… but she just couldn't tear her eyes away from Inuyasha's to check. _She was afraid_.

She could hear the voice panting and the sound of quick steps descending a wooden staircase. And then the voice called out again, this time hesitantly and with an edge of fear that mirrored Kagome's own; as if the voice couldn't bear to believe it either.

His smile growing even wider, Inuyasha lifted a finger to nudge Kagome's chin gently until she was no longer staring at him but staring up at the wooden ceiling of the well-house and the shadow obstructing the view.

It wasn't until she heard a choked sob and saw the shadow begin to move away that reality set in, and she practically screamed out "Mama!", her husband trying to hide his pained grimace as the sound rang out against the stone walls of the well and amplified in his sensitive ears.

He wasn't about to complain though as an utterly joyful response of "Kagome!" joined the lingering echoes of Kagome's exclamation, the sounds so full of relief and love that he almost started crying with the women himself.

Almost.

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*Author's Note:

There will be more of this.

Like... maybe one more chapter. I don't really know if there will be more than two parts to this, but... we'll see. This may turn into a series of post-canon shorts.

I have so many conflicting ideas about how life is after the series ends. This fic DOES NOT fit with my other post-canon stories though. Those are all set in a situation where the well closed after Kagome returned to the Feudal Era and stayed closed. It's kind of a sad situation, but it seemed to me like that was what the last episode was hinting at. Her words to her mother and her comments afterward all seemed very... final.

But I want to explore the idea some more that she can still go back and forth, so that's what this story is for! :3


	2. Chapter 2

Only One Way To Know, Part 2 (The Conclusion)

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"Mama! MAMA!"

Kagome thrashed violently in her husband's arms, but he only smiled, sharing her eagerness to see the woman leaning over the top of the well. He shifted his weight, crouching slightly and whispered "Hang on tight" as his thigh muscles coiled and he sprung the length of the old well.

There was a gasp from Mrs. Higurashi as he cleared the edge of the structure and planted his feet on the compacted dirt beside it, but the gasp soon became a joyful sobbing exclamation of "Kagome!" as the older woman rushed toward the two.

Knowing his wife likely wanted to hug her mother herself, Inuyasha started to lower Kagome to her feet, but she practically screeched at the movement and tightened her arms around his neck in a death grip.

He didn't even have time to ask what was wrong before she was shouting "Get out of the well-house! Just get outside! PLEASE!"

Inuyasha didn't need to ask questions – he knew what she was worried about. And he didn't want to disappear on her again. He didn't even bother to nod as he leapt up the small staircase and out onto the shrine grounds, the sliding door having been left wide open in Mrs. Higurashi's haste.

And speaking of Mrs. Higurashi….

Both pairs of eyes turned back to the well-house to see the woman rushing up the steps towards them, breathing hard from the exercise as well as roiling emotions. Kagome practically jumped out of his arms this time, and met her mother halfway, the two women embracing and clinging to each other with over a year's worth of missing each other.

There were no words spoken, only whimpers and sobs and sniffles, and truly neither Kagome nor her mother could have talked if they'd wanted to.

Inuyasha couldn't help the wide smile that broke over his face – it had been worth the risk. Seeing Kagome so happy, so overcome was always worth the risk.

Mrs. Higurashi couldn't be sure she wasn't dreaming – she'd had too many dreams to count of her little girl coming home again, and sometimes she felt guilty for them, because wasn't it she who gave her daughter her blessing to go and be with the man she loved?

And yet here was her daughter, her kind-hearted young man in tow, and holding the girl in her arms just felt too perfect in Mrs. Higurashi's mind to be any kind of dream.

She took a moment to memorize the feel of her little Kagome, noting how the fit was much different than when her little girl had last been home. She had a stronger grip than when she was in school, no doubt from all the hard labor in the feudal era, and her skin looked a bit darker, as it had when she'd been going back and forth between the past and present at only 15 years old. Her red and white priestess's outfit was coarse and slightly dirty, but the sight of Kagome in such clothes reminded Mrs. Higurashi sharply of the first time she came home, scratched and bleeding, her hair tousled and feet dragging and spouting off stories of centipedes and razor-sharp hair and angry, insufferable dog-eared boys. She had been crying then too.

Oh, how that day had changed everything.

Hugging her daughter even tighter, Mrs. Higurashi was suddenly aware of another spot where Kagome didn't quite fit like she used to. She paused, wondering at the strange pressure of Kagome's abdomen against her. Had the girl put on weight? Or….

She gasped. Kagome's quiet crying stopped as she looked up worriedly at her mother, and Mrs. Higurashi took the opportunity to pull away and stare at the barely visible bulge of her daughter's stomach. She could barely remember how to breathe.

Catching her mother's gaze, a smile lit up Kagome's face as she remembered just why it was she had needed her mother so badly. Somehow finding her voice, the young woman put a hand to her baby-bump and said through a voice thick with emotion, "We thought you should know… you're going to be a grandmother!"

Her mother's eyes were swimming as she glanced back up at Kagome, and then over to Inuyasha, who despite a faint stain of pink on his cheeks was also smiling widely… just like a proud father would.

Her vision blurred, and Mrs. Higurashi fell on her daughter all over again, saying through her tears "Oh Kagome… I'm so happy for you. I'm so happy you're here! I… I… _thank you_ for coming back."

Inuyasha sniffled at the overwhelming salt in the air… at least that's what he would tell anyone who happened to see his red face and watery eyes at that moment. However, sniffing again, he was suddenly aware that they weren't alone, and there was someone who was witnessing his cracking self-control.

He turned abruptly and stopped as his eyes fell on a young man with hair just as black as Kagome's and a school uniform like that boy who brought her gifts used to wear. The boy was taller than he used to be, but there was no mistaking Inuyasha's nose: 'Souta!'

Standing in the middle of the stone courtyard, his backpack fallen to the ground and his jaw falling with it, Souta gaped at the sight of his child-hood hero and his missing sister who he thought he would never _ever_ see again.

As Inuyasha's eyes met his, Souta snapped to attention, and just as Inuyasha was about to call out to him, the boy ran full-throttle toward the house, leaving a very confused half-demon in his wake. Looking back at the hugging, crying women, he guessed neither had noticed the young man's presence and speedy departure; he chose not to bring it up.

Mrs. Higurashi had pulled away again and was laughing joyously as she laid a tender hand on her daughter's swollen stomach, firing off excited questions about 'how long' and 'how do you feel' interspersed with so many exclamations of 'I can't believe it!'

The laughing was infinitely better than the crying in Inuyasha's opinion, though he understood the need for the latter, but he was wondering if they shouldn't take the reunion somewhere more comfortable. Kagome had been standing for a while now, and he didn't think this conversation was going to end any time soon.

Approaching his wife, he touched her arm lightly, gently holding her elbow to steer her to the house. She looked up at him then, her eyes so bright and shining and radiant that it caught him off guard. He hadn't seen that smile since she found out they were to have a child. "How, uh… how about we go inside… so you both can sit down?"

Mrs. Higurashi beamed at him, and he wondered what he had done to merit such a pleased expression. Kagome however reacted more predictably, rolling her eyes, though her smile and happy attitude remained. "Oh Inuyasha, you worry too much! I've told you before, just because I'm pregnant doesn't make me an invalid!"

The laugh in her tone stopped his snappy retort, but he still frowned as he started to pull her away, her mother keeping pace beside them, a knowing smile on her face that Inuyasha wasn't entirely sure he liked.

His irritated mood disappeared quickly however as he felt Kagome grab his arm, hugging it to herself with her own as she looked up at him with sparkling eyes.

Yup. Definitely worth the risk.

They had just passed into the yard around the house when the front door slid open, clattering at the force it was thrown with, and Souta emerged from the house holding firmly to the arm of his wobbly grandfather. Kagome gasped, her tears coming back full force as she rushed towards the pair, yelling their names as they gasped out hers. Grandpa Higurashi let go of the young boys arm to hobble hurriedly to his granddaughter, stumbling slightly in his increased age, but Kagome made it quickly to his side and steadied him with a firm hug.

Souta rushed forward as well, and with a laugh Kagome threw out an arm to welcome him into the embrace. She was laughing, they were crying (or pretending not to in Souta's case) and Inuyasha heard movement beside him as Mrs. Higurashi went to join the group hug as well.

Inuyasha stood back, watching the reunion with a nostalgic feeling… and one he wasn't too keen to remember again. It was just like when he and Kagome returned from the Meido, and he realized, as he had then, that there were others who needed Kagome just like he did. How could he have kept her from them? He felt strange… out of place… and suddenly he felt a strange tingling sensation throughout his body – one he recognized as well.

But before he could react, or say a word, Souta looked up from hugging his sister and looked straight at Inuyasha, saying with exuberance "C'mon Inu-no-niichan! There's room for you too!"

Inuyasha froze, and the tingling, time-warp sensation ebbed.

Kagome's grandfather looked up next, his wrinkles growing deeper as he smiled and said "Indeed my boy, you've done such a good job taking care of our Kagome, I dare say you're part of the family now!"

"Oh but he _is_ , Father! They got married!" Mrs. Higurashi said with a laugh, and Souta all but cheered at the news that his hero was _really_ his brother now.

Kagome looked back at him then, imploringly, her hand coming to rest over their growing child, and that was enough for him. The strange sensation from before disappeared completely as he went to join the group, hugging his wife tightly as her…no, _their_ family embraced the both of them.

Warmth spread through him, the kind of warmth he felt often with Shippo and Miroku and Sango and always with Kagome, and he realized that these people accepted him, loved him, and… he loved them too.

And maybe… maybe it wasn't a fluke that the well had let them both through this time. Maybe he needed this family as much as Kagome did, and needed to finally realize that. And… maybe they needed him too.

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*Author's Note:

Unless I get a stroke of inspiration for something to follow this, I'm calling this the end. It was only supposed to be a couple parts anyways.

Sorry about the intense fluff! Couldn't help it.


End file.
